Comic artist Frank Borth III died 9 August 2009. Born 1 April 1918 in Cleveland, Ohio, he lived much of his life on New York’s Long Island, and was for a time an East Hampton Town Councilman.
After serving in the US Army as a technical sergeant, he earned an associate’s degree in art from the Cleveland Institute of Art. Then he moved to New York to become a freelance illustrator and comic book writer. Borth created Spider Widow, a superhero who debuted in Quality Comics’ Feature Comics #57 (June 1942). He wrote and drew Spider Widow until its demise in June 1943.
Later, he drew Ken Stuart, a strip about a two-masted schooner, from 1947 to 1950. He couldn’t get it syndicated, so he left the strip to work for the Catholic Treasure Chest magazine, where he stayed for a quarter century. Later in life, he worked on There Oughta Be a Law for 12 years. After his retirement in 1983, Borth took on occasional assignments for Cracked magazine.
He is survived by a son, a daughter, and a grandson. His wife of 60 years, Barbara, died in 2004.